METRO DETROIT — The summer of 2017 saw the first segment of the controversial Interstate 75 modernization project get underway in Bloomfield Township and Auburn Hills.

By this time next year, the Michigan Department of Transportation hopes to take the rest of the plan into overdrive and cut the duration of the construction work nearly in half, wrapping up by 2020, or about 10 years sooner.

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — A DTE Energy gas main and meter replacement project in Grosse Pointe Farms is taking a bit longer than expected, but officials with the utility are trying to finish up some work before winter sets in.

“Before winter hits, we want to be fully restored” in areas where work was already done, explained Jeffrey Parks, principal supervisor for gas operations with DTE. Parks, who addressed the Farms City Council during a meeting Sept. 11, said they want to complete restoration work so they don’t run into problems over the winter.

WEST BLOOMFIELD — On July 5, a jury in Oakland County’s 6th Circuit Court reached a verdict in a 2015 Northwestern Connector project case involving the Road Commission for Oakland County.

The RCOC began working on the Northwestern Connector project in 2014. The project involved refiguring the 14 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway intersection and building a roundabout at the 14 Mile and Orchard Lake roads intersection.

FARMINGTON HILLS — The offices of the state attorney general and Gov. Rick Snyder hold the answers to what Farmington Hills officials can do next with a charter amendment ballot proposal, after the Attorney General’s Office rejected the charter amendment ballot language.

Assistant City Manager Gary Mekjian said the ballot language sent to the state Attorney General’s Office was designed to exempt property owners currently involved in an active special assessment district from a pending road millage until their SAD has expired.

DETROIT — The QLINE trolley in Detroit will be implementing its fee structure for riders after meeting its service goals during its free ride promotion.

The trolley line runs 3.3 miles up and down Woodward Avenue between midtown and downtown Detroit. It was put in place to provide residents and visitors to Detroit with more transportation options for traversing the city, and to make the Woodward Avenue corridor more accessible by increasing foot traffic.

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Macomb Township commuters will have a quicker drive up and down North Avenue this fall with the widening project on the road between 21 Mile and Hall roads now complete.

Bryan Santo, director of Macomb County Department of Roads, said the project was completed in mid-August. North Avenue was expanded from two lanes between 21 Mile and Hall to five lanes over the mile-long stretch.

FERNDALE — Parts of Eight Mile Road will be undergoing resurfacing work over the next couple of months.

The Michigan Department of Transportation resurfacing work on Eight Mile, which began Monday, Aug. 14, will take place between Woodward Avenue and the Southfield Freeway, or M-39, and is expected to last until October.

MDOT communications representative Diane Cross said in an email that the project begins westbound at Woodward Avenue and eastbound at M-39, and the two ends will work toward each other until the resurfacing work is completed.

BEVERLY HILLS — The village of Beverly Hills is warning residents to prepare for a road closure on Evergreen Road, between 13 Mile Road and 14 Mile Road.

Repairs are planned in the area to maintain several culverts under the Evergreen bridge beginning Monday, Aug. 21. This project will repair the spillway of the Erity Dam that was damaged in the spring of 2015 from heavy rain. Several residents have voiced concerns since that time, calling for these repairs to take place.

ROCHESTER HILLS — A strip of Dequindre Road that borders Sterling Heights and Troy is getting ready to undergo around a year’s worth of construction, and nearby residents and businesses are being alerted.

The Road Commission for Oakland County, which is managing the project, held an informational forum about it Aug. 8 at Reuther Middle School in Rochester Hills.

Engineering and design staffers were on hand to answer questions from the public.

FARMINGTON HILLS — Before winter hits, Consumers Energy is fixing the portion of a 16-inch gas main — which runs throughout the county — located on 13 Mile Road, between Haggerty and Inkster roads, in Farmington Hills.

In late July, Consumers Energy inspected the gas main and discovered that parts of it needed to be repaired. Some of the repairs will include excavation to facilitate pipe replacements, according to a press release. This will cause lane closures and possible traffic delays in that area.

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Crews have been visible for the past month along Metropolitan Parkway in Harrison Township as work continues to improve a pedestrian bridge just southwest of Shoreline Drive, as well as cleaning and extending a culvert under the road and constructing an access drive to the pump station behind the Beechwood Apartments, east of North Pointe Parkway.

SOUTHFIELD — Residents may need to find a new route to work or home following a recent road closure.

According to officials from the Road Commission for Oakland County, Lahser Road was scheduled to be closed between Northwestern Highway and Civic Center Drive for a total reconstruction starting July 24.

Officials stated previously that the road would not close during the repairs, but a July 14 press release from Craig Bryson, public information officer for the Road Commission, said that the road will completely close through the duration of the project.

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — On June 28, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law Public Act 59 of 2017, which enables Michigan motorists to provide electronic proof of automobile registration to law enforcement.

The bill follows similar legislation enacted in 2016 that allows for electronic proof of vehicle insurance. State Rep. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township, who proposed both bills, said they take drivers into the 21st century.